


The Queen of Hell

by EmmaTheRevelator (MaybeItWasMemphis), MaybeItWasMemphis



Series: A M.A.D. Universe [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Demons, F/M, Fluff, Heaven, Hell, It's only a story, Leave me alone religious people, Lemon, Romance, Smut, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:54:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22631371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaybeItWasMemphis/pseuds/EmmaTheRevelator, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaybeItWasMemphis/pseuds/MaybeItWasMemphis
Summary: The Queen of Hell was cursed to be reborn on Earth. Over thirty years later, her King has finally gotten a lead on her location. Luc is joined on his search by his literal witch of a mother-in-law, and two *shudders* humans. What happens when he finds his Queen only to discover that she has no memory of her King? Read to learn the answer.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Series: A M.A.D. Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1628071
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: Please, be civil in the comments section. I know religion is a touchy subject for a lot of people. I am NOT trying to disrespect anyone. This is just a story, a piece of fiction. Believe it or not, I am a (cafeteria, I’ll admit) Catholic. I just know better than to allow my faith to overpower my sense of reasoning or my sense of humor.
> 
> Authors Note II: This story is taking place in the same universe/sandbox as my story ‘The Curse of Samhain.’ These stories do NOT have to be read together or in order. They can be read as stand-alone pieces. Some characters do make crossover appearances in both stories, but none of the stories in the M.A.D. universe will spoil each other in any way. Enjoy!

__

_“I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.”_

**\- Psalm 37:7**

I will not ask you again,” Luc growled at the underling that stood in front of him. “Where is _my_ queen?”

The bottom-rung demon was wearing the skin of a tatted-up biker, so the trembling and sobbing were all the more amusing to the King of Hell.

“Queen Raelynn was reborn on Earth,” Gamigin was still crying as he broke. “Gemory put a curse on her to keep her shielded from your detection, Your Highness.”

Luc’s anger seemed to radiate through the stone walls and black marble floors. The entire throne room seemed to vibrate with the King’s fury. Lifting his hand, he motioned as though he was backhanding an invisible victim. Gamigin was lifted off of his feet, and he hovered for a moment. Then the stone walls lit up with purple flames that burned hot but consumed nothing. Ignis Infernalis… _Hell Fire_. A mighty, controllable inferno that could only be wielded by the King of Hell or his Queen. Gamigin flew through the air, only stopping when his face connected (with a sickening crunch) with the wall behind the ornate, silver throne. The demon’s burly borrowed form ignited in purple flames. But the fire didn’t behave as fire should. The demon’s skin bubbled and boiled until it had almost completely melted away. Then, the fire would cease to burn, Gamigin’s skin would quickly and painfully regrow, only for the flames to return and the whole process to start all over again. The throne room reeked of sulfur and burnt flesh. Luc let this process go on for the better part of an hour before he stopped it with another lazy wave of his hand.

“I already knew all of that, you prat!” Luc’s booming voice echoed off of the walls. “Where on Earth is she?!”

“I…I don’t kno…know sire,” Gamigin managed to spit out through sobs and gasps.

“Well, you better start thinking, you half-wit!”

Just to drive his point home, he conjured a ball of Ignis Infernalis and tossed it back and forth between his hands.

Gamigin pushed himself up to sit on his knees. “I can only tell you what my sister shared with me…and she was incredibly cryptic, Your Highness.” His voice grew an octave higher with every word that tumbled from his quivering lips.

“Speak. NOW!” Luc hurled the purple ball of fire at the demon’s head.

Gamigin barely ducked to avoid it. “Gemory said that by the blood of Queen Raelynn’s blood, she would be reborn to once again walk the Earth. A Queen of Hell being reborn would not come without signs, she said. Queen Raelynn was separated from her ustrina during the rebirth.”

A demon’s ustrina was very similar to an angel’s grace or a mothman’s amandla-demort. It was the source of all a demon’s power.

“There’s more, Your Highness, a date.” The demon’s red eyes overtook the blue of his biker host’s, and he spoke in a rushed ramble that was almost difficult to understand.

“What date?” Luc growled.

“December 14, 1989.”

That was all that Luc needed to know. “MOTHER!” He hollered for his mother-in-law.

The large, heavy golden double doors of the throne room opened of their own accord, and his Queen’s literal with of a mother entered. Her steps were so dainty and quiet that it almost seemed like she was floating on air. With long jet-black hair and emerald green eyes, the middle-aged (in appearance, if not years) woman was obviously the one from whom Raelynn had inherited her beauty. Before she would agree to be his bride, Raelynn had made Luc swear that her mother could join them in the Tenebrae Palace, located in the deepest level of the underworld. It had been an early summer day in 1912 in his Queen’s home country, Ireland, when Raelynn had made her demand.

_*** “Either me ma comes, or I don’t.” Raelynn crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Luc._

_Luc held up his hands in faux surrender. “You win, darling. She can come.” ***_

It had been the first argument that his wife had won, but it certainly had not been the last.

“Yes, me boy?” Aoife came to stand beside him, her hands on her slim hips.

“Take care of Gemory’s little bitch, please.” Luc didn’t spare the demon another glance. “I need to go topside and have a chat with Jinx.”

Jinx Morgan, a human man that Luc much detested, was the head of M.A.D. M.A.D. was a human operation that policed demonic activity on Earth. They also kept their eyes on angels and mothmen. Mothmen were natural omens of death that also served as what humans had taken to calling ‘grim reapers.’ Since the peace accords of 1287 AD, Hell, Heaven, and the Mothman Council had worked together to ensure that the natural order, as created by God, was at all times protected. The Mothmen kept leashes on each other and went where they were ordered to go by Heaven. Angels ran the day-to-day affairs of Heaven while Luc’s Father focused on the Big Picture. So far, God had been unwilling to share just what that Big Picture was. The good souls went to Heaven while the evil ones were entrusted into Luc’s care. The Kingdom of Hell had been gifted to Luc, named Lucifer at his creation, after a rather nasty family disagreement over the usefulness of humanity had deteriorated into a full-blown war. When everyone had finally laid down their arms, God had decided that it was no longer an excellent idea for His son to live at home anymore, and so off to Hell Luc was sent. He was actually quite pleased with his role, and he had never been caged…regardless of what the Bible claimed.

“Bring me girl home, yeah?” Luc felt as though Aoife was trying to glare holes in his head.

“Yes, Mother,” Luc nodded.

He would bring his Queen home…even if it meant asking a human for help. Just because he had agreed to play nice centuries earlier, that didn’t mean that he had to _like_ the inferior beings.


	2. Chapter 2

Jinx sat behind his desk at M.A.D. headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, with a smirk on his aged face. “Let me get this straight. You’ve lost the missus, and you want our help finding her?”

“Yes,” Luc replied through gritted teeth. “It was two of your blasted tracers that took out the demon who cursed my queen. Because of M.A.D. I lost my only source of information as to her location. The least you can do is help me pinpoint where to find her.”

Jinx’s office was a modern glass box built into the center of an old office building. Outside the office, spread out on all four sides were at least a dozen desks belonging to M.A.D. tracers. Some desks were empty, the tracers that typically occupied them most likely out on cases. The desks that contained tracers came complete with pairs of eyes that were fixed in Luc’s direction. It was every day that Satan himself popped in the office for a visit.

“Why would we want to help you?”

This question didn’t come from Jinx. It came from the male agent who was leaning against the glass walk behind Jinx’s desk. He spoke with a strong southern drawl, and his jeans and black t-shirt looked slept in. His short, dirty-blond hair was unbrushed, and his hazel eyes came equipped with their own purple luggage below. And this man, Ryder Griffin, was one of M.A.D.’s finest.

“You’ll help me because she’s the one who keeps my ustrina balanced.” Luc shook his head. “It wouldn’t be good for anyone, above or below, if I were to become too out of sorts.”

Ryder’s eyes widened. He had clearly heard the lore about mated demons.

“I thought you were an angel?” Jinx appeared confused. Most people who learned about his history from the Bible tended to be.

“He’s one of Heaven’s Fallen,” Ryder smirked. “When Daddy kicked him out of St. Peter’s Gate, his wings turned black, and his grace was taken away and replaced with the first ustrina.”

“I wasn’t the first,” Luc snapped, his eyes flashing red and startling the two human men in front of him. “We don’t speak the First One’s name.” That was a whole other family feud that Luc just didn’t have to discuss at the moment.

“I still don’t understand how this is our problem.” Jinx tried to steer the conversation back on track. “Isn’t it a good thing if the devil self-destructs?” He glared at Luc, hatred clear in his gaze.

_‘Well, fuck you too,’_ Luc thought but was intelligent enough not to say out loud. And his Father wondered why he detested humanity. Jinx was exhibit A. humans were the most judgmental beings ever created by his Father. Judgemental assholes, the lot of them.

“It’s not a good thing,” Ryder replied grimly. “He’s in possession of the most powerful ustrina in Hell. If he falls too far out of balance, him and Hell will go nuclear times one billion…and so will everything above it. Heaven’s protected but the earth, and probably the Mothman’s Realm will be obliterated.”

Would you look at that? The redneck agent wasn’t as brain dead as Luc thought he was.

“Wonderful,” Jinx rubbed his temples. “Humanity is once again on the brink of annihilation. It must be Tuesday.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Ryder, you’re gonna be assigned to this case.” Jinx handed over an emerald green file folder. “Zane’s on leave, and you’re the best I’ve got, at the moment.”

Luc tried not to smirk when he saw one if M.A.D.’s top tracers start grinding his teeth at the thought of working with the Morning Star himself. “Come on,” Ryder jerked his head towards the door. “Conference room. I need more information.”

“Ryder,” Jinx got his attention. “Given who is involved with this case, bring Heaven into the loop. Contact Arael, brief him.”

“Fuck,” Ryder cursed, but he nodded at his boss in acknowledgment. “I’ll send up a prayer once I get the case background.”

Luc could understand Ryder’s distress at the thought of working with Arael. Arael (pronounced like the Disney mermaid) was Luc’s younger brother by over a millennia. He was smart, hard-deaded, and the biggest narcissist that Heaven had ever produced. His Father had been less strict with the younger angels after the disaster he had been forced to clean up after the First One rebelled even harder than Luc had three hundred years later. The drastic change in parenting had led to an entire class of angels who were, more or less, spoiled brats. It was no surprise that Arael was part of the last choir of angels created by God. After that, He had moved on to Creation and humanity.

Once they were both settled into tacky black leather chairs on opposite ends of the conference table, Ryder put his pen to a yellow legal pad. “Talk,” he ordered. “Start with who your wife was originally.”

Luc almost smiled as he thought about his Queen. “She was born in 1893 in Belfast, Ireland. Her name was Raelynn Korbie back then. Her mother was, and currently still is in Hell, one of the most powerful self-taught witches to ever walk the earth.” Witches weren’t monitored by Hell, Heaven, the Mothmen, or M.A.D. They were simply humans who had tapped into residual grace left behind after God had finished Creation. Well, that’s what white witches did. Black witches made deals with demons in exchange for certain powers. But witches had been dying out over the last couple of centuries. There just wasn’t much residual grace left on earth anymore for white witches to tap into. Just another natural resource that glutinous humanity hadn’t thought to conserve. As for black witches, Luc had outlawed any deals that involved the transfer of power to mortals after the Peace Accords. Only rouge demons made deals, and Luc dealt swiftly with any rebels in his midst. Therefore, black witches were even rarer than white witches. “Raelynn’s father worked at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard; he helped to build the Titanic and her sister ships. Her family, at least her father and siblings, and, of course, herself were Catholic at the wrong time. Much like it is today, British Protestants treated Irish Catholics as second-class citizens, they were paid less, forbidden to speak their own language. It’s always amazed me what you humans will do to one another in my Father’s name. Murder, oppression, that strange Duggar family. You lot are creative, I’ll give you that.”

Ryder rolled his eyes and simply motioned with his hand for Luc to continue.

“On top of colonial oppression, rumors had started to spread that Raelynn’s mother was a witch. And with no _‘Harry Potter’_ books back then to make witchcraft look cool, those rumors put the family at risk. Her father bought steerage tickets aboard the Titanic for himself and Raelynn’s older brothers. They were planning to find work in New York City, and they would send for the women. I believe James Cameron filled the world in on how that story ended.” Luc smirked. “After the ship went to the icy deep, I started looking for weak souls to buy in the areas where the loss of the ship was felt the most: Southhampton, Liverpool, and Belfast.” Hey, he was the Prince of Darkness, after all. His job wasn’t pleasant, but someone had to do it to keep his Father’s favorite Creation spinning. “Instead of finding weak souls, I found Raelynn. The moment I met her, my ustrina told me she was mine. Instead of buying her soul, I made her my Queen.”

“And how exactly did you piss off Gemory enough to curse the Queen of Hell herself?” Ryder raised an eyebrow at him.

“Her mate was executed for treason against the Kingdom of Hell,” Luc explained. “He was selling access to the Hell’s Gate located in the American Berkshires to the humans willing to make the greatest sacrifices to him. Gemory went after my mate in return.” He got to his feet. “We’re finished now. Why don’t you run along and place that long-distance call to my dear baby brother.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Auntie Rae, have you seen my shoes?”

Raelynn dropped a kiss to the top of the little boy’s head before she grabbed her purse off of the hook by the front door. “Justin, bubba, I’m running late for work. Go and ask your mama to help you.”

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Raelynn knew she was being foolish. She put her purse back on the hook. “Come on,” she took her nephew’s hand. “Let’s find them before you miss the bus.”

Is Justin racked up any more tardies at school, Child Protective Services would be paying them a visit. God forbid her older sister put out her cigarette and get up off her fat ass to do any real parenting. Why would she? Judy knew Raelynn wouldn’t let Justin go without.

Justin was the only good thing in Raelynn’s life. While she had briefly escaped Alaska to attend college in California, she had moved home six years earlier. Her mother, the family’s breadwinner, had died suddenly and Raelynn had moved home to help. It was at around this same time that Judy had become pregnant with Justin and also moved home. Over the years, Raelynn had gone from simply helping out to supporting the entire household and raising her sister’s kid. While her father and older sister lived off of welfare benefits, Raelynn worked over forty hours a week at the local grocery store. In short, she was living in white trash hell.

***

Ryder was doing research in M.A.D.’s main library in Charlotte, North Carolina. The secret library was older than America by at least two thousand years and was located underground. The ground above the library contained an amusement park. Thousands of people visited the park every year and they were all blissfully unaware that the ground beneath their feet housed every single spell book and religious texts that had ever existed.

Ryder sat at one of the many mahogany tables that sat in the center of the library’s first level. The tables were surrounded by shelfs od reference books. The grey rock walls were lined by blazing torches. These torches were special. They never went out. That’s because they were lit using eternal hellfire. Ryder was using the light they provided to research demonic tracking spells that were powerful enough to track the queen of all demons. He was coming up empty and starting to get discouraged when a blinding blue light filled the library.

When the light ceased Ryder found himself staring at a rather arrogant-looking man who wouldn’t have looked out of place in a 20th century speakeasy. That’s what the man looked like, but Ryder knew better. The oversized suit jacket hid a lot more than most people could even imagine.

“Way to make an entrance, Areal. I could have lived without the light show.”


	5. Chapter 5

“I thought you prayed for my assistance,” Areal spoke dryly and with an oddly midwestern accent for an angel.

Ryder rubbed his hands over his eyes. “Exactly. I asked for help, not blindness.”

“I believe Heaven’s been able to locate Queen Raelynn,” Areal said the name with complete disgust. “Summon my brother. I don’t want to have to explain this more than once.” The angel seemed bored, like he had more important things he could have been doing than helping to save humanity.

Ryder got to his feet and looked down at the stone floor. “Lucifer! Get your demonic ass up here!”

“I’m an angel, not a fucking demon,” Lucifer appeared behind them. “This better be good.” The Dark Prince crossed his arms over his chest.

“When you fell,” Areal sneered at Lucifer. “You left an imprint on the earth.”

“I remember what happened…vividly.” Lucifer was glaring at his brother. “Why is this important?”

“When you fell, the dinosaurs went extinct,” Areal explained. “It stands to reason that when Raelynn was sent topside there was some kind of natural disaster on earth.”

“We haven’t been struck by any major asteroids lately.” Ryder sarcastically spoke up. He was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Satan killed the dinosaurs.

“That’s because Lucifer’s an archangel and Raelynn’s only a demon.” Areal now spoke to him as though he was a slow child. “You gave me the date December 14, 1989. I took it upon myself to look up that day in the Book of Fate.” The angel seemed mighty proud that he access to that book. “On December 14, 1989 at 6 pm, Mount Redoubt erupted in Alaska. Only one child was born in Alaska at that time. It was a baby girl…named Raelynn.”

“Where?” Lucifer demanded to know.

“Port Alsworth, Alaska. She’s still there.”

Lucifer smirked. He had finally found his queen.


	6. Chapter 6

“You can’t just drop into this woman’s life and tell her that she’s a demon.” Ryder tried to hide his amazement at the fact that he was lecturing Lucifer. The circumstances were made even more humorous by the fact that the Prince of Darkness was seated in the easy chair of his cousin/partner’s living room.

Zane lived with his wife and two young sons in Rock Hill, South Carolina when he wasn’t on call with M.A.D. in Memphis. Tracers worked in shifts of one month on and one month off, so Zane commuted during the school year. Luckily, Lane’s home was only a twenty-minute drive from the library and Ryder could use all of the help on this case that he could get.

“Let alone tell her that she’s the Queen of Hell,” Zane added. “It would have to be very traumatizing to find out you’re married to you.”

“That pathetic low class like that she’s leading isn’t a like!” Lucifer growled. “I took her out of that once before.” The lights in the room briefly flickered.

“But this Raelynn doesn’t know that,” Zane’s wife, Chloe, spoke up from her place beside him on the overstuffed couch. You could tell that she was way too used to her husband’s line of work. Satan himself was literally sitting in her living room and she had barely batted an eyelash. In fact, Chloe had been beyond helpful, running the google search that had given them an idea of who present-day Raelynn was. To say that Lucifer was underwhelmed was an understatement.

“As long as Raelynn’s is separated from her ustrina, she’ll have no memories of who she used to be?” Ryder looked at Lucifer for confirmation.

The fallen angel nodded. “But she wouldn’t be able to function if it was too far away from her.”

“So that narrows our search field to…all of Alaska.” Ryder was a bit crestfallen. Alaska was the last American frontier. Vast expanses of the state were unexplored and completely void of human presence. Who knew how long the search would take?

“Mount Redoubt going up at the moment of her birth was more than just a sign of some sort,” Lucifer added more insight.

“Her ustrina is somewhere near the volcano,” Zane guessed.

Chloe hopped up to her feet. “I’ll go pack your go-bag.” She leaned down and kissed her husband before departing from the living room.

“Damn,” Ryder fondly marveled at his cousin-in-law. “I need to find myself a woman like that.”

Zane rolled his eyes and ignored him.

“Anyway, once we find the damn thing, since Raelynn has no clue she’s wifey, can we put her demon soul thingy –”

“Ustrina,” Lucifer and Zane corrected at the same time.

“Yeah, that thing,” Ryder snapped his fingers and gestured at Lucifer. “Is there any way to, I don’t know, shove it back in without Raelynn knowing? Once she’s been touched by a dark angel, she should get her memories back.”

“I would have to convince her to let me get close enough to do it, but it’s possible.” Lucifer nodded.

“So, here’s the plan. Ryder and I will search Mount Redoubt for Raelynn’s ustrina. While you befriend her,” Zane nodded towards Lucifer.

“Dude, I don’t want to go to Alaska,” Ryder showed his displeasure by whining.

Lucifer chuckled. “If she’s anything like she was when we first met, befriending my queen won’t prove to be easy.”


	7. Chapter 7

**_APRIL 18, 1912_ **

**_BELFAST, IRELAND_ **

**_THE KORBIE HOME_ **

_Luc heard the teenager’s quiet sobs before he ever saw her. She was seated on a wooden swing in the back garden of her family’s barely modest home._

_“Are you alright, my dear?” He startled her with is presence. Luc didn’t care. She had startled him too. The warmth that filled his chest coupled with the definitely abnormal almost magnetic pull he felt towards this human woman unnerved him._

_“Who are you?” The beautiful girl didn’t bother with any pleasantries._

_“I was a friend of your father’s,” Luc lied smoothly._

_“My da was a shipbuilder.” The girl eyed hum with suspicion. “He didn’t have any posh friends.” She gestured to his nice suit._

_“You’d be surprised, sweetheart.” Luc was taken by how intelligent the girl was. You didn’t find that often in young women of her station. It made the possessive pull that he felt towards her worse still. “You must be Raelynn. Your father told me so much about you.”_

_Blue eyes met his and she glared at him. The force of her glare combined with her scarlet-red hair made her look most alarming, like she was about to burst into flame at any moment. “And you must be Lucifer. Me ma’s told me all about you.”_

***

Ryder laughed. “I like this chick. She founds feisty.”

“Back off, human,” Luc hissed. Once more the electricity in the living room surged. The lightbulbs in the blue ceramic lamps that sat on the end tables exploded.

“Shit!” Zane jumped up off the couch as hot glass sprayed all over him.

Upstairs, a baby cried, and the sound of a door opened, followed by the sound of little feet. “Daddy? What happened?” A little voice called down the stairs.

“Frankie, stay upstairs buddy!” Zane hollered. “Daddy broke some glass!”

“Okie-dokie.” Ryder said as he started to help his cousin clean up the mess. “Either Beelzebub really loves this chick…or you and Chloe really need to get an electrician out here.”


	8. Chapter 8

_*** She tossed and turned, twisting the black satin sheets into knots worthy of a sailor as she cried out in her sleep fitfully._

_“It’s alright, my little dove.” Raelynn felt herself being gathered up into strong arms as a cool hand stroked her cheek. “I’m here.”_

_Opening her eyes, Raelynn found herself looking into the red eyes of her mate. “Where were you?” She asked in a pitiful little voice. Usually, she hated to sound or appear weak, but she knew it was okay to show the softer side of her personality with him. He was her alpha, her husband, her king. He was the only one she ever showed weakness to._

_“I had some business on the surface.” He pulled her to lay down beside him so that he could wrap her in his arms. “Same dream as always?” He kept his tone gentle._

_“I’m watching the ship sink, and I can see them, standing on the deck as she foes under. I want to help them, but I can’t.” She let a few tears escape as she curled up on his chest. “I always have that dream when I go to bed without you.”_

_“I’m sorry, my love.” He said as he kissed the top of her head. “You know I don’t make a habit out of leaving you alone in bed. This was unavoidable, I’m afraid.”_

_“Will you make me forget, my alpha?” Raelynn mumbled into his bare chest._

_She saw the wolfish grin painted on his face as he rolled her to lay beneath him. “Always, my omega,” he whispered right before his lips came down on hers. ***_

Raelynn sat up in bed with a start. “What the hell was that?” She mumbled to herself. She was covered in a thin layer of sweat as she tried to get her breathing under control.

She was human. So, of course, she’d had dirty dreams a time or two in the past. But her dreams had always been about celebrity crushes – Prince William in his younger days, Brantley Gilbert, Gerard Butler. This made sense because she knew what they looked like and why she liked them. They were regularly in the news. The sexy British man with the muscular build and jet-black hair was a complete stranger to her. Why did her dream-self call him her alpha? And what the hell was with the red eyes and cold touch?

When she reached over and turned on the bedside lamp, her eyes fell on the Harry Potter book that sat on her nightstand. She’d been reading it to Justin before bed. Her brain suddenly came up with a way to explain away her curious dream. Raelynn’s favorite character in the book was Severus Snape. Severus Snape had dark hair and a British accent. Just friggin’ wonderful. She was so lonely that she was having naughty dreams about a fictional wizard.

“Thank you, JK Rowling,” she muttered to herself as she shut the lamp off and laid back down.


	9. Chapter 9

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

It was the week before the 4th of July, and the store was packed. _Thomas Trading Post_ was the only grocery store in a fifty-mile radius and was always busy, but today had seen more customer traffic than usual. People were stocking up for their holiday barbecues. They were even buying those dinky boxed ‘fireworks’ sets. You know the ones. They sent sparks five feet in the air and gave off whistles that made the neighborhood dogs descend into howling madness and made anyone who lived within two miles deaf for three days. Raelynn couldn’t see the point in celebrating Independence Day simply because of where she lived. It fell during the Alaskan summer. The sun wouldn’t set until close to midnight and would only stay down for a short period of time. She preferred to enjoy the rare few hours of darkness that they got every day. It seemed counterproductive to spend the short night lighting up the sky with cheap explosives…America’s birthday or not.

Raelynn had been on the register all morning and afternoon. She was dead on her feet, and her customers' faces were starting to blur all together she had checked out so many. Then she encountered a face that she had only ever seen in her dreams before…and only the last few weeks.

_***_

_The first time that Raelynn realized that she truly loved her husband had been on the accident's first anniversary. At her request, he had accompanied her to the surface, to her childhood home. A somber parade was winding through Belfast's streets in front of the small house that she had been born in. It was an event to commemorate the first anniversary of the Titanic tragedy while at the same time attempting to turn the public’s attention away from the political fight for home rule in Ireland. She watched the parade out of the sitting room window, behind the white lace curtains her ma had sewn as a newlywed._

_“Are you alright, little lamb?” Luc came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. There were no sexual overtones to his touch. Her husband was simply offering her comfort. No matter what it was, he always seemed to know just what she needed at any given moment – comfort, a cuddle, sex – and he went out of his way to make sure she was cared for properly._

_“I love you, my Alpha.” She turned her head slightly to look at him without leaving his embrace. She didn’t know it, but at that moment, a purple smoke filled her pupils for just a brief second as she finally fully accepted the bond that existed between their two souls._

_“That’s very good to hear, my little Omega.” He dropped a kiss to the top of her head and tightened his arms around her. “Because I love you too.”_

_***_

Raelynn must have been silent for too long because her customer felt compelled to ask, “Are you alright, love?”

Holy crap, Batman, he had a British accent!

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Raelynn forced herself to smile as she rang up his cup of coffee from the deli’s small ‘coffee bar’ that was really a single metal coffee dispenser and some packs of sugar and powdered creamer. Nothing weird was going on, she told herself. This probably wasn’t even the first time that she had served this customer…and she had been continuing to read the H _arry Potter_ books to Justin. And she was pretty positive that she had seen _Titanic_ enough times in her teenage years to explain that odd little tidbit. Her mind had probably remembered this guy and his accent and subconsciously cast him in the role of a Severus Snape kind of character in her head...even though, for some reason, she called him ‘Luc’ – pronounced like ‘Luke.’ Nothing strange to see here. This was no big deal. She wasn’t losing her mind…right?


End file.
